Jalapeno Cheddar Skillet Cornbread
Are you looking for a complete guide to the most perfect skillet cornbread? Let me help you out, this recipe is awesome!
Servings: 8 servings
Equipment
- 10 inch diameter cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal you can also use white if you prefer
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour I prefer a whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar you can also use honey if you prefer, but I like the texture of the granulated sugar better.
- 1 cup fresh corn I used frozen, but thawed it in warm water and drained it well.
- ½ cup milk
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup oil I used canola, but you can use any other neutral oil of choice
- ¼ cup melted butter
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- ½-3/4 cup chopped jalapenos
- butter for pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- One thing to note before you start mixing, your cast iron will need to go in the oven for at least 5 minutes before you are ready to bake. You want it to be good and hot before the batters go in, so keep that in mind when you are prepping your ingredients.
- It is important to make sure everything is ready to go before you start mixing. It should come together really quickly. So, cut up your jalapenos and grate your cheese. Then mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In another bowl, mix your eggs, milk, oil, and butter.
- Combine the wet and dry, remember to only mix to combine. You don't need to overdo this! Add in your cheddar and jalapenos. Mix to combine.
- Remove your hot cast iron from the oven and grease generously with butter. Pour in the batter and place immediately in the oven.
- Bake for 15-25 minutes. This will depend on the actual heat of your oven. I check for a few things when baking- one is color. You are looking for that beautiful golden brown color, the edges will be slightly darker. I also check by touch. If you press gently in the center of the cornbread you will be able to tell whether or not it is too underbaked. The last way to check is with a toothpick. Just remember, you want it to be SLIGHTLY underbaked, so you don't want the toothpick to come out completely clean. Just mostly.
- When it is cooked, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving. You want it to finish baking to perfection.
Notes
- Cast iron skillet- You will need a good cast iron skillet for this recipe. While you can bake it in a glass baking dish, the crust you get from the cast iron is superior. The perfect crust comes from pouring the batter into a preheated pan and putting it into a very hot oven.
- Mix only to combine- Overmixing makes this cornbread tough and dense instead of light and fluffy. Be attentive to the batter, and stop mixing when all of the ingredients are just combined.
- Customize as desired- The simple ingredients I used are easy to customize depending on the taste profile you prefer. If you'd prefer a sweet cornbread recipe, it’s as simple as adding extra sugar to the batter. However, feel free to leave out the mix-ins or swap them to fit your taste. Whether you make this recipe into cornbread muffins or cut them into squares drizzled with honey butter, this is the best easy homemade cornbread without buttermilk.
- Slightly underbake- If you take cornbread out of the oven when it's slightly underdone, it will be perfect by the time it's ready to eat. If you bake it until it's perfectly done in the oven by the time it cools, it may become dry. Carryover cooking will have caused it to become overbaked. Carryover cooking is caused by the heat in the dish after removing it from the oven, meaning the dish still bakes for a bit as it